Top 10 Concerts for the first half of 2013

The 50h anniversary of The Rolling Stones. The 40th anniversary of country icons Alabama. Iconic stars. Hot upstarts. They've all come through the Lehigh Valley/Philadelphia area.

I already have a list of the 10 Best Concerts of the first half of 2013, and the summer season has just started.

We have Musikfest, Allentown Fair and Philadelphia Folk Festival to go.

The summer season of the outdoor amphitheaters is just getting under way: Scranton's Toyota Pavilion at Montage has the Mayhem Festival and Warped Tour in the next week. Philadelphia's Mann Center has a particularly strong lineup: Barenaked Ladies with Ben Folds Five, fun. with Tegan and Sara and The Monkees in a three-day stretch this month.

So the best 10 concerts I've seen in the first half of2013 may end up being behind a whole bunch of shows I've yet to see. In fact, even my list of favorite shows so far is shifting.

But even if I didn't see another concert, it's already been a good year. Maybe that's why I've already seen more than 90 concerts.

As of today, here's my list of list of Top 10 concerts for the first half of 2013:

10. Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks, Bethlehem, May 4: It's simple logic. Joan Jett loves rock and roll. I love rock and rock. Therefore, I loved Joan Jett & The Blackhearts as headliner at the MDA Ride For Life. Jett was everything a rock and roll show should be. She played her biggest hits and offered her music straight-forward in the way punk should be played.

9. Radio Station 104.5 Winter Jam, with Tegan and Sara, Matt & Kim, 21 Pilots, Walk The Moon, June Divided and more, Jan. 26, Piazza at Schmidt's, Philadelphia: They say artists sometimes suffer for their art, and the bone-chilling temperatures at Philadelphia radio station WRFF-FM's Winter Jam 104.5 certainly caused suffering -- both among artists and the crowd of perhaps 3,000 that crowded the snow-covered for the free show. As in the world of art, that suffering produced some pretty great work. Chief among it was Canadian indie-pop twin-sister duo Tegan and Sara, whose hour-long set closed the five-hour event, which included more than three hours of music by five acts. There also was a fun DJ set by indie-pop duo Matt & Kim and good sets by Walk The Moon and new Philly emo band June Divided. And twenty | one | pilots gave the crowd the shirts off their backs – literally. NOTE: Tegan and Sara play at The Mann on July 19.

8. Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell and Richard Thompson, Academy of Music, Philadelphia, March 26: The pairing of Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell for a concert was in every way the folk-country dream you thought it would be. Not only have the pair, who first worked together 40 years ago, retained their musical powers, but in some cases the aging process seemed to have enhanced them. That, plus the fact that their stellar new album together gave them a trove of strong material to perform and they had a crack band to perform it, made for a great show. Harris and Crowell made just one obvious mistake: Having Richard Thompson as their opening act. Having Thompson play before you do is like having Bob Dylan open for you – if Dylan was a guitar wizard whose voice still was at the top of its game. Thompson's writing, playing and singing, not to mention passion, are virtually unparalleled. NOTE: Thompson is playing Philadelphia Folk Festival on Aug. 16.

7. P!nk, Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, March 17: Some music acts these days try to reach their audiences with their voices – melodically pure or nuanced and emotional. Others rely on the content of their songs to make an audience connection. Still others build elaborate stage shows to capture the imagination. Pink did all three before a sold-out crowd in a show that was not only a concert, but a circus, cinema and spectacle. While other performers' shows – Lady Gaga, Roger Waters' "The Wall" – have been spectacular, Pink's included perhaps the most astonishing moment I have seen in a concert. But what made Pink's show such a success was that, apart from that show, the night worked as a wonderful concert, as well -- songs almost uniformly strong and sung surprisingly well. Even sometimes as she hung upside down. NOTE: P!nk returns to Wells Fargo Center on Dec. 6.

6.Steve Earle, Sands Bethlehem Event Center: Roots/country rocker Earle opened the tour for his upcoming new album "The Low Highway" on April 26 at Sands Bethlehem Event Center with what was the venue's best show so far this year. Earle's new album is great, and in a 26-song set that lasted an hour and 50 minutes, Earle played all 12 of the new disc's songs, and nearly all were outstanding. NOTE: Earle plays Sellersville Theater 1894 on Aug. 22.